Tag Archives: Allure of the Seas

Cruise market will see ‘modest growth’ in 2012, says PSA

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Cruise market will see ‘modest growth’ in 2012, says PSA

Oct 04, 2011 06:00AM GMT

The growth in the number of British cruise passengers is to slow to just 1% next year, the Passenger Shipping Association has admitted.

This represents a slowdown from a projected increase of 5% this year and almost 6% in 2010.

Figures released at the Travel Convention in Palma show an estimated 1.73 million passengers will take a cruise holiday next year, a rise of just over 1% on this year’s forecast figure of 1.71 million passengers.

PSA director Bill Gibbons attributed the slowdown to fewer new ships entering service in 2012.

“Looking forward, we anticipate modest growth in 2012 as capacity slows following the reduction in the number of new ships being built,” he said.

“However, we remain confident that growth will continue over the coming years as companies introduce new ships including the 3,611 passenger vessel for P&O Cruises, the largest in their fleet, due for introduction in early 2015.

“The great choice of ships now providing cruise holidays from the UK to a wide variety of destinations will lead to more passengers sailing from British ports.”

The figures show that a record number of passengers are expected to depart on cruises from the UK in 2012 at 835,000, against 760,000 this year.

Gibbons added: “Cruising is expected to continue to outperform other areas of the holiday market with travel agents, who account for around 80% of sales, continuing to play an important role.”

The PSA expected seven new ships to enter service in 2012 for companies such as Carnival Cruises Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Oceania Cruises.

Royal Caribbean changes course on compensating stranded guests

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Royal Caribbean changes course on compensating stranded guests

By Donna Tunney
Royal Caribbean International backed off on its policy that says it won’t compensate passengers for weather events that alter a cruise.Royal Caribbean drew criticism after 130 people booked to sail on the Serenade of the Seas on Aug. 21 were stranded in San Juan after the ship departed early to avoid Hurricane Irene.

The cruise line is keeping mum on the amount of compensation.

“We are in the process of contacting those guests who were not able to sail with us to inform them of their compensation, and would prefer that the impacted guests learn of the amount directly from the line before it is disclosed publicly,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.

“We are compensating these passengers,” she added, “because we understand that this was an unusual situation, and we want to provide our guests with another opportunity to sail with Royal Caribbean International in the near future.”

Fifteen passengers who had booked their air through Royal Caribbean were provided hotel accommodations in San Juan on Aug. 21 and 22, along with air transportation to Aruba on Aug. 23, where they boarded the Serenade. These passengers also will be compensated, the line said, with a future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise fare they paid.

Cruise ships diverted as Irene hits hurricane status

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Cruise ships diverted as Irene hits hurricane status

Aug 22, 2011 13:33PM GMT

Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International have been forced to alter Caribbean itineraries in the face of a hurricane.

Irene is heading towards the cruise hub of Puerto Rico after hitting the island of St Criox with heavy winds and rain closing airports and flooding areas of the Leeward Islands.

The storm was upgraded to a hurriacane by the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami on Monday morning (August 22). Maximum sustained winds from the storm have reached 75 miles per hour.

The storm is due to reach the east coast of the Dominican Republic later today, prompting hurricane warnings on the Caribbean island popular with UK holidaymakers.

A state of emergency was imposed in the US Virgin Islands while other eastern Caribbean islands such as Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, Guadeloupe and St Maarten were also affected.

Ships with revised itineraries include Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and sister ship Allure of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas as well as Carnival Miracle.

Speaking before the storm was upgraded, The Puerto Rico Tourism Company said the island was under a Tropical Storm warning.

“All tourist information centres on the island will be available on a 24-hour-a-day basis to offer support to tourists,” it said. “All hotels are operating as normal but have activated their contingency plans to protect guests and employees.”

Although Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan is open, airlines have cancelled flights as a preventive measure. “We recommend that arriving and departing passengers call their airline regarding any changes, delays or cancellations,” the tourism body said.